"Playground" In John Barth's LETTERS

John Barth is the forerunner of American postmodernism,whose literary creation is closely related to the development of postmodern literature.LETTERS is the summary of his periodic works,discussing issues of life,history and literature.It not only concludes and develops his overall thought in previous works,but also reflects his literary ethics.This thesis,adopting Zygmunt Bauman's postmodern ethical notion of “playground” with “freedom” and “repetition” as its prominent features,aims to discuss the embodiment,impact and multifunction of the “playground” in LETTERS.This thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter one covers a brief introduction to Barth and LETTERS,literature review both abroad and at home,methodology,and the framework of this thesis.According to the literature review,although many scholars have studied Barth and his works,a few have analyzed or concluded Barth's literary ethics from the perspective of postmodern ethics.The methodology part introduces Bauman's notion of “playground” and clarifies the complementary relationship between “freedom” and “repetition”.Chapter two focuses on the embodiment of “playground” in LETTERS,illustrating “freedom” in the “playground” and “repetition” of play patterns.“Freedom” in the “playground” is reflected primarily in the individuality of life,the textuality of history,and the experiment of literature.Individualized life emerges in the freedom of sex;textualized history endows the freedom of rewriting;and experimental literature guarantees the freedom of creation.“Repetition” of play patterns can be observed mainly from the recycling of life,the recurrence of history,and the echoes of literature.Life patterns of individuals keep recycling;historical events and history courses recur now and then;and literary materials echo in literature,reality and films.Chapter three elaborates the impact of “playground” in LETTERS.“Freedom” causes ethical confusion,resulting in the indeterminacy of individual responsibility,the uncertainty of history,and the “de-literariness” of literature.Individuals doubt themselves and escape responsibilities;history is rewritten freely into limited texts;and literature is popularized and fragmented,getting far away from literature of traditional sense.On the contrary,“repetition” enhances ethical faith,by which morality is persisted,history is maintained and literature is inherited.Chapter four demonstrates the multifunction of “playground” through redefining “freedom” and dynamizing “repetition”.The ethical confusion caused by “freedom” requires people to redefine “freedom” by promoting individual morality,regularizing historical writing,and reconstructing literature system.At the same time,only when we hold the dynamic features of “repetition” can it be conductive to the renewal of life,the development of history,and the replenishment of literature.This thesis,by discussing “freedom” and “repetition” in the “playground”,analyzes the ethical thoughts in Barth's LETTERS from three-layers of life,history and literature.The conclusion concludes Barth's postmodern literary ethics,and reveals its theoretical guidance to postmodern literary creation.